1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a deodorant container wherein a top member and a base member are formed as identical units from a common mold. The top member and the base member are designed to be affixed relative to each other to form a space therebetween. The space between the top member and the base member is designed to receive a disk of air-treating material. In a locked position, the top member is firmly secured relative to the base member so that the air-treating material is sealed therebetween. In an open position, the top member is slightly rotated to unlock it relative to the base member and thereafter is reciprocated upwardly to expose the disk or air-treating material to the ambient air.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the past, it has been conventional to dispense a deodorant material by positioning a wick within a liquid deodorant disposed within a container. The wick would tend to draw the liquid deodorant upwardly out of the container thereby pemitting it to permeate the surrounding ambient air. With this type of conventional room deodorant the container is open and the contents of the container may be accidentally spilled. In addition, this conventional type of room deodorant is extremely messy since the wick must be manually removed from the liquid deodorant positioned within the container.
To overcome the deficiencies of the conventional liquid deodorant container, a number of devices have been developed whereby the contents of the container may be sealed off from the ambient air and thereafter opened to expose the contents to the ambient air. For example, the Dupuy Patent, U.S. No. 2,383,960 discloses a vaporizing device wherein a wick 14 is disposed within a liquid deodorant 12 positioned within a container 10. At the uppermost end of the container is a closure member 26, 37 which may be rotated to either expose the contents of the container to the ambient air or to seal off the contents of the container from the ambient air. Although this device apparently eliminates the mess accompanying manually removing the wick from the liquid deodorant positioned within the container, it still suffers from a disadvantage in that if the container is accidentally dislodged, the contents of the container may be spilled. Another device which is extremely similar to the Dupuy '960 Patent is the Dupuy Patent, U.S. No. 2,412,326. Again, the Dupuy '326 Patent suffers from the same disadvantages as the Dupuy '960 Patent.
A number of dispensing devices have been developed whereby a solid or particulate deodorant material is positioned within a container. For example, the Logue Patent, U.S. No. 2,555,047; Wheeler et al Patent, U.S. No. 2,603,532; Meek Patent, U.S. No. 2,657,090; the Wenner Patent, U.S. No. 2,836,462; and the Buckenmayer Patent, U.S. No. 4,014,501, all disclose containers whereby a top member is rotatably positioned on a bottom member. By rotating the top member relative to the bottom member either one or a plurality of apertures are opened thereby exposing the contents of the container to the ambient air. Although these devices overcome some of the deficiencies of the prior art room deodorizers, they suffer from a construction disadvantage in that the top member has a different configuration from the base member. In other words, to construct the container, it is necessary to mold the top member in a completely distinct mold from that used to mold the bottom member. This greatly increases the expense involved with constructing the container. In addition, it is necessary to closely monitor the construction of the top members and the base members to make sure that an equal quantity of members are being manufactured.
Similarly, the Wheeler Patent, U.S. No. 2,765,951; the Copley Patent, U.S. No. 3,134,544; and the Burdick Patent, U.S. No. 3,286,872, all disclose containers wherein a deodorant material is positioned in a base member and a top member is reciprocated upwardly to expose the contents of the base member to the ambient air. Both the Wheeler and Burdick Patents disclose a top member which is of a different construction than the bottom member. Therefore, it is necessary to use a first mold to construct the top member and a second distinct mold to construct the bottom member.
The Copley Patent discloses one embodiment wherein the cover 28 is molded in the same die as the container 11. However, it is necessary to employ a retaining sleeve 21 having an outwardly projecting conical surface 26 in order to secure the cover member 28 relative to the container member 11. In addition, during operation, the cover member 28 is removed from the container member 11 and is stored adjacent the lower end of the container member 11 forming a base therefor.